Revealed: See why Martial missed Man United's friendly against Bayern

Revealed: See why Martial missed Man United's friendly against Bayern

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial missed his side’s friendly against Bayern Munich, leading some to assume he was poised to leave the club.

United lost 1-0 in their game in Germany on Sunday, and Jose Mourinho appeared relieved to be starting the season, saying: “Finally, it’s over. Finally, such a difficult pre-season is over.”

Trouble has not been limited to on-pitch affairs. United have struggled to bring in Mourinho’s desired targets this summer, with no central defender signed, and only Lee Grant, Diogo Dalot and Fred joining up ahead of the next season.

Mourinho’s mood has been miserable for much of the time, and he has aimed barbs at Antonio Valencia for a perceived lack of fitness, and also Martial.

Martial returned to Europe for nine days to be with his partner for the birth of his child. Mourinho expressed frustration that Martial was slow to come back to the first team:

“Anthony Martial has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank God – he should be here and he is not here.”

Martial did not come with the team to Munich for the friendly, causing speculation that a transfer deal, such as a swap deal with Chelsea’s Willian, was in the works.

And when Martial wasn’t on the plane to Germany for United’s final pre-season friendly against Bayern, rumours were in overdrive.

Everyone was suggesting that Martial was set to be involved in a sensational swap deal with Chelsea and Willian.

However, the explanation is much less exciting. Given Martial had missed so much of pre-season, he was instead required by the club to undergo double training sessions in order to build up his stamina ahead of United’s opening game against Leicester City this Friday.